


Drunk in love (except you're sober)

by MemoryMonkey



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Effeminate!Nagisa, First Introductions, M/M, but he's still male tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 11:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20274907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryMonkey/pseuds/MemoryMonkey
Summary: During his visit to a pub, Karma notices a group of kids flirting with a particularly feminine, but still very much male, waiter who is clearly very uncomfortable with it. After stepping in and forcing them to leave him alone, Karma ran into the waiter again just after leaving and the two ended up going to the waiter's house for the night.





	Drunk in love (except you're sober)

Karma sat down, eyes skimming over the white bleached walls lining the bar. He was thoroughly bored of both his work life, working an office job, and his social life which was even less eventful. Much to his own surprise he had recently taken to trying out various local pubs in the hope that something interesting would happen, or even to actually meet someone if he was being optimistic.

"Damn, you're looking fine-" came the voice of your average delinquent that usually frequents pubs like this, desperately trying to gain the attention of a female. Karma let himself be drawn into the scene as 4 kids with barely enough stubble to warrant puberty sat at the bar, leaning in towards whichever poor soul had to serve them.

"You come here often, girl?" One of them blurted out.

Karma looked at their waiter - long, bright blue hair in pigtails, wide and beautiful blue eyes, a very feminine face and figure and hands held nervously in front of him, and yet he was not a girl but very much a male.

"No need to get flustered, we just wanna spend time with you."

"Yeah, why don't you take a second off work and sit with us?"

"Ehm - I-I can't, sorry," he stammered. "This is my job, I can't just-"

"Come on, just relax a bit."

"Yeah, we can help you relax."

"I..." his mouth and eyes were wide, blushing deeply.

"What, you not happy with us? You just gonna ignore us?"

"Liven up sweetie, we like the look of ya but no one likes getting ignored!" One said slightly louder, standing up.

"Leave him alone," Karma finally interjected. He had expected someone else to stop them from causing trouble but apparently not. The four of them paused and slowly turned to Karma, who relished the confusion on their faces.

"Him?"

"Him," Karma repeated. "It's kinda obvious."

They paused again before meeting each other's eyes, ultimately deciding to start laughing.

"You think you're funny?" Their ringleader asked.

"Quite frankly I came here to entertain myself, not you," he answered before taking a long sip of his drink. "I don't care how I appear to you."

They began to close the distance and he felt the tension rising - adrenaline coursing through his veins. Soon they had surrounded him.

"Now you think you're a tough guy, huh?"

Karma sighed, turning to face them.

"Please, you kids don't even look old enough to be here," Karma shot back with the smug edge in his voice that he'd missed using so much.

"Alright, you've-" one of them began but Karma shushed him with a finger in the air as he made of point of very slowly drinking all he had left. He calmly placed his mug on the counter, noting their balled fists and red faces.

"Well?" He asked while standing up, almost giddy with excitement - he'd been itching for a good fight for a long time.

As expected the first one came at him with his right fist and no technique and was easily blocked and countered with a quick strike to the neck, leaving him coughing on the floor. He ducked under a hook and picked up his stool, swinging it around and smashing it straight into the next one's face with a satisfying crack as one of the legs broke off from the force. Letting out a laugh, he drove his palm into another one's nose and heard it snap then whacked his head against the wall.

He paused, out of breath, and looked the last one in the eye. Looking at his groaning companions on the floor, he didn't hesitate to turn and run, soon followed by the others. The whole bar was watching him silently as he stood, slowly gaining his breath, his broken stool on the floor.

"Sorry about that," he said calmly while standing the stool back up. "I'll, ehm, pay for the stool. I got carried away."

The wind was cold and bitter but Karma didn't take any notice. He had a grin plastered on his face, feeling awake for the first time in months and he breathed the cool air into his lungs. He had stuck around in the bar after his brawl for a while, soaking in the atmosphere as everyone eventually packed up to leave. He was just leaving the bar as it was closing when he heard a voice behind him.

"E-excuse me!"

Karma turned around to see the effeminate waiter from before running towards him in his uniform, still slightly flustered. Karma paused, waiting for him to catch up.

"Yeah, what's up?"

The waiter paused next to him for a moment, catching his breath.

"I just wanted to say thanks... That was getting kinda scary, and I really appreciate that you stepped in."

"Trust me, it was really my pleasure," he answered with a bright grin. "They had it coming. And you looked really uncomfortable."

"Yeah, they weren't great... and, ehm, nice fighting, by the way. You were awesome!" The waiter responded, his eyes lighting up.

"Thanks," Karma answered. "I haven't fought for a while, actually."

"What's your name?" The waiter suddenly asked, turning towards him.

"Karma Akabane, at your service," he answered with a bow and a bit of a flourish, eliciting an adorable giggle from the waiter.

"Nagisa Shiota. Nice to meet you," he responded while pretending to curtsey. Karma grinned.

The two of them paused, realising they had reached a crossroad. There was a brief awkward silence as the two wondered if they would have to separate here before another gust of wind blew down the street. Nagisa held his arms close to his chest as if to try to warm himself up.

"You alright Nagisa? You're shivering."

"Oh, y-yeah, sorry, I..."

"Hey, no need to apologise," Karma began with a chuckle. Nagisa looked so slim and vulnerable to him in the cold that he couldn't bear to watch him shivering.

"K-Karma?" The bluenette stuttered, a bright blush now painted on his cheeks as the taller man took off his jacket and handed it to him.

"So, which way are you headed?" Karma asked, giving Nagisa a pang of guilty relief as he gladly took the jacket.

"I'm heading home, just down the road to the left."

"Oh, hey, I'm headed left too," Karma said brightly while turning left down the street, Nagisa close behind.

"...Thanks." Nagisa eventually managed, pulling the jacket close around his shoulders.

There was a brief and comfortable silence as the two quietly walked down the street, Karma's jacket warm and thick over Nagisa's shoulders. He found himself nervously trawling his fingers up and down its worn surface, his eyes lingering on the other man in front of him - his confidence absolutely stunned Nagisa from how he talked, fought and even walked. Karma was wearing quite a tight short sleeved shirt, through which his robust stature was quite visible - Nagisa shook his head, drilling his eyes into the ground.

"Hey, you're turning red!" Karma suddenly said with concern, turning around and stepping towards Nagisa. "Are you sure you're not unwell?"

"I-I'm really okay, actually... and, ehm, my house is just there..." Nagisa murmured, hoping not to seem hostile.

"Oh, right." Karma backed up as Nagisa fumbled briefly with his keys - it was a cosy, unassuming house, and he clearly lived alone. The door swung open and he stepped inside, pausing and turning around.

Karma was awkwardly waiting outside under a lamp post and the sky was dark. The two of them met eyes and froze, entranced. They didn't notice the cold or the time passing until another gust of wind blew past them and Nagisa noticed the goosebumps on Karma's exposed skin.

"Do you want to come in?" Nagisa finally blurted out. The words had been on the tip of his tongue since he'd turned onto the street and seen his house.

"Are you sure? It's getting pretty late."

"Nono, that's fine, you don't have to, it's just, it's fine... if you want to..." he stumbled through his words, his hands fidgeting in front of him and face red with embarrassment. He still had Karma's jacket on his shoulders anyway.

"Yeah, sure, okay," Karma resigned with a shrug and stepped in, glad to find a little more warmth as Nagisa closed then door behind them.

He wordlessly followed Nagisa into the living room, where the bluenette sunk to his knees on the ground in front of the fireplace and Karma realised how tired he must be.

"You alright?" Karma asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, I've just been getting up early and going to sleep lately recently. My mum isn't doing so well so I'm working extra jobs to help her out."

"Damn, that's rough..." Karma muttered. "I don't know if I could keep up a schedule like that."

"Well it's not that bad, since I know it's going towards something good."

"Wow, you're..." Karma began. "That's awesome, Nagisa."

"Th-thanks..." he responded, his blush not fading. Karma watched silently as he set up the wood in the fireplace and lit the kindling at the bottom before flopping back and lying on the floor.

There was a brief moment of calm silence as the gentle crackling of the fire punctuated the whistling wind outside.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Nagisa broke the silence, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm alright, thanks. I've had enough this evening already. And you look like you're about to fall asleep." Karma grinned.

"I certainly feel like it," he answered softly.

Karma looked down at Nagisa beside him. The poor boy was still in his waiter uniform, his slender frame quite apparent against its smartly tight cuffs and sleeves. His chest was very gently heaving up and down as he rested his eyes.

"You at least gonna lie on the sofa before you fall asleep and leave me in your house?" Karma asked with a chuckle, grinning at how quickly Nagisa quickly became flustered again. "Hey, eh, sorry to bring this up but do people mistake you for a girl often"? Karma asked, sitting down on the sofa.

"Ehm..." Nagisa mumbled, facing the ground. With hunched shoulders and his hands held together in front of his hips he definitely had a feminine posture. "Pretty often, yeah," he answered before flopping down onto the sofa face first. Karma raised an eyebrow. "But they're usually not as ardently flirtatious as they were with me today," his muffled speech came through the pillows before he clambered up onto the sofa. Karma wasn't even the slightest surprised when he began to curl up like a cat.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Eh, you get used to it. I've come to terms with how girly I look. I can't help but suspect it was the main reason I got the water job in the first place," he mumbled at the end.

"Damn, I'm sorry... But now I think about it, I think the waitress outfit would you suit you better," Karma began with a grin, savouring Nagisa's expression of partial shock and frustration. "Don't you think if you walked in with a skirt you'd get way more customers?"

Nagisa's eyes widened, his skin turning red again.

"Or maybe a maid café..." Karma pretended to think, glancing at the bluenette who was now curled up more to hide his face than for comfort.

"K-Karma!"

"Nah, I'm just messing with ya," Karma spoke through his yawn, arms stretching in the air. "Hell, I'm gonna fall asleep too if I'm not careful. Maybe I should head out-"

"Stick around a while longer," Nagisa droned, half asleep. Karma felt a petite hand move to rest on his knee - was it just him or had Nagisa shuffled a bit closer?

"Are you getting up tomorrow morning for work?" Karma asked nervously.

"No, what about you?" Came his half whispered response, his voice airy and sweet.

"Nope."

"Hmm, good~" Nagisa whispered, clearly shuffling closer until he was clearly leaning on the other man.

"E-ehm, Nagisa?" Karma began, starting to flush himself.

"Hmm?" Eventually came a quiet hummed reply, though no movement was made as Nagisa's head rested shamelessly on Karma's lap.

"W-we just gonna go to sleep like this?" He surprised himself, hearing a stutter.

"M-hm."

Karma's eyes stared down, shocked and confused at how quickly this had come about.

"Alright then..." He muttered, confused. His heart was beating like crazy. It was clearly because he wasn't used to physical contact with other people unless he was fighting them... Yeah, that was it...

"N-Nagisa? For real?" He stuttered again.

"You sound pretty uncomfortable," Nagisa spoke softly and Karma could almost hear the grin in his voice - this must be his revenge for his little maid comment. A strange form of revenge for sure - it reminded him a bit of a friend he had once whose preferred method of retaliation was grooming - but if Nagisa wanted to turn it into a competition, Karma would win.

"You're on," Karma whispered with a grin as he shuffled in turn towards the bluenette, wrapping his arms around his slender body. He was shocked when Nagisa didn't squeak and turn red as he'd expected, but smiled gently and relaxed in Karma's arms.

Crap... I was outplayed...

Karma frowned, surprised at Nagisa's calmness.

Perhaps he'd been overthinking things, maybe Nagisa just needed affection and it seemed like Karma was reciprocating the gesture... But surely he wouldn't have suddenly started hugging Karma for just that reason...

Karma's brain was overheating, his breaths still slightly fast.

The feelings of protectiveness he'd felt on the street were nothing compared to what he suddenly felt, a warm adoration for the petite man in his arms, whose long blue hair was splayed messily across the sofa. His heart was still thumping wildly and he had no idea why.

Karma saw effortless grace in Nagisa, even the breaths he was taking and the high pitched and subtle sounds they made were lighting his nerves on fire. Just as he thought Nagisa had fallen asleep, he felt his cool hand gently take his own, Nagisa's slim digits fitting between his own.

Guess I'll just go to sleep like this then...

Shrugging in resignation, Karma grinned as he slowly let himself relax too. He could even smell a faint scent of roses from Nagisa every time he breathed in, the other man's head leaning against his chest under his nose. Karma understood that he'd found something more than what he'd been searching for as he fell asleep.


End file.
